Bagel Sandwiches Are Beasts

Bagel Sandwiches Are Beasts

Keep your cowbell. We need more bread.

Sometimes the absolute best part of a sandwich is what's inside. Other times, the bread is really the highlight. And once in a while, when your level of hunger dictates that you can't choose between the two, there is the bagel sandwich.

Toasted bagels are great in this capacity — they have more give to them than untoasted bagels, which can be dense and doughy (bless them). Different kinds of bagels also lend themselves to certain beloved combinations — roast beef and horseradish on an onion bagel, for instance. Or pastrami and swiss on a rye bagel. Or ham and cheese on a pumpernickel bagel.

Here’s my secret to having your bagel and finishing it too: if you want the chewy, flavorful bagel exterior without taking on the whole doughy 500-calorie mass, scoop out the middle and stuff your filling in. That’s a secret New York thing. Don’t tell I told.